I like beer

[privategal]

Id be willing to drink light beer but I dont generally eat any sweets, candy, chips...so Beer is my only downfall for the most part.

I need to lose weight...20 lbs is my goal..

Can I do this and not give up beer.

I have about 20 beers per week on average give or take.

[RecentChange]

Hum. Right now you are looking at about 5,000 empty calories a week due to beer..

 

Pretty hard to cut calories (you need nutrients!) Or exercise enough to make up for all of those excess calories.

 

Anyway you could moderate besides 20 light beers? What about one GOOD, high quality (which also tends to have a higher ABV) beer a day (so 7 a week vs. 20).

 

My dude works in craft beer, we have TONS of beer at the house, and I enjoy beer..... But I also have to watch my weight.

 

I usually set a weekend day aside for drinking.... And eat lighter that day (protien, vegis, very little carbs) AND add an hour of exercise in addition to the 45 mins a day of cardio I usually do.

 

Unless you have a ton of time for exercise, and are going to take up something like distance running.... I don't think weight loss while drinking 20 beers a week is very feasible.

 

Your liver would love it if you took it easy on the beer as well!

[PogoStick]

Nope, you have to give it up. Look at it this way, if you just give up beer, and nothing else, you'll be losing a pound of fat a week.

 

That, or you can keep the beer and have to run 40 miles per week. Which do you choose?

 

I guess that's only 5ish miles per day. Every. Single. Day. Without a break. For 20 weeks. Which do you choose?

[carhill]

Cut down one a day, weekdays only, so five for the week if you drink daily, and drink a lower calorie beer during the week and save the heavier stuff for the weekend. Do it for a month and see what happens. That would mean you'd drink roughly two beers a day, every day.

 

I generally limit myself to two beers at any one sitting or social gathering and mix the light and heavy ales and it seems to balance out the slowing metabolism of later middle age well.

 

The other side is burning those calories. Walking is a great way to start. Consistent activity which raises metabolism will assist in weight loss. No need to make drastic changes. Slow and steady lifestyle modifications.

[newmoon]

the guy next door to me has about 8-10 a NIGHT. yep, every single solitary night he goes through at least 8, if not more. so, maybe 60-70 a week. i think he just lives on beer as i never see him bring groceries home or eat. maybe cut out all food and just drink? and btw, he's very thin. i guess it'll creep up on him later??

[carhill]

Yeah, men can be interesting creatures. Beer for food and cigarettes for exercise

 

On a more serious note, of course with older folks like myself, I've had a couple friends cut down their beer intake because, well, after their cancer surgeries, something about it didn't appeal to them anymore. No prescription for reduction or anything like that, nor was the cancer necessarily related to tossing back beers but rather something changed in their desire, or 'like' for beer or alcohol in general.

 

I've always been a take it or leave it person with alcohol so I don't understand 'like' more than having a few beers socially with friends. However, I did see how the craft and micro brews were adding the pounds so something had to give, more of a lifestyle change than anything else. IDK if that's what you're after, OP, or simply a solution to losing weight.

[MightyPen]

privategal, I think many of us have a vice that may be less than optimally healthy. I love pizza and chips. However, I am giving them up for a few months and keeping my diet clean. Would you consider going without for a month and see what kind of fitness results you get? You could join our spring fitness challenge! We'd love to have you!

[Emilia]

Give or take, huh? Bet it's more than 20 and I bet you have an alcohol problem. This goes beyond weight loss, soon this will impact your quality of life

[Haydn]

That`s a lot of beer i think.

 

Maybe just take a break from alcohol for a month or two. See how you feel?

 

I like a drink but it can creep up on you.....

 

I tend to go overboard if i have a free night with mates but then not drink for week.

[PegNosePete]

20 beers a week is like 3 a day, every day. Or 2 a day during the week and 10 at the weekend. And that's if you're being honest about it only being 20.

 

Either way, it's too much! You need to cut down on this, whether you're looking to lose weight or not. If you can cut down the drinking to a healthy level then you will probably find losing weight a lot easier.

[MidwestUSA]

My 57 yo BIL is currently hospitalized with alcoholic encephaly. If he lives, he will most likely reside in a care facility and have to learn how to dress and feed himself again.

 

But, yes, he's very, very thin.

 

Extreme example, I know. There are just so many tasty ways to ingest those calories if you aren't looking to lose weight.

[SSJROMANCE]

Yes you can. I have done this many times. But you need to exercise and minimize your carbs. I would eat very healthy in the morning and for lunch with low carb intake. Then a nice dinner and some beers. Exercise EVERYDAY and you will lose weight. Going with a low carb beer also helps.

[PegNosePete]

If you do go the low carb route,make sure you don't go into ketosis. Ketosis plus alcohol is extremely dangerous.

[loveweary11]

Lite beer is around 100 calories.

 

20 of them a week is 2000 calories.

 

7 days in a week means you are adding 285 calories a day to your intake, on average.

 

Assuming the drinking doesn't affect you appetite (do you eat late night munchies?? pizza? burgers? after drinking??), you simply need to remove 285 calories more of food from your diet, in addition to what you are thinking you need to remove to lose weight.

 

But... a far worse contributor are things like going to Starbucks.

 

Any of their frappucino drinks are between 500 and 600 calories each!

 

Put another way, just having 4 Starbucks drinks a week is the same caloric load as your 20 lite beers.

 

So go for the big offenders. Cut the things with the largest calories first and enjoy your beer.

 

***Note, It's not healthy to keep drinking 20 beers a week, but we are just talking weight loss.

[newmoon]

Lite beer is around 100 calories.

 

20 of them a week is 2000 calories.

 

7 days in a week means you are adding 285 calories a day to your intake, on average.

 

Assuming the drinking doesn't affect you appetite (do you eat late night munchies?? pizza? burgers? after drinking??), you simply need to remove 285 calories more of food from your diet, in addition to what you are thinking you need to remove to lose weight.

 

But... a far worse contributor are things like going to Starbucks.

 

Any of their frappucino drinks are between 500 and 600 calories each!

 

Put another way, just having 4 Starbucks drinks a week is the same caloric load as your 20 lite beers.

 

So go for the big offenders. Cut the things with the largest calories first and enjoy your beer.

 

***Note, It's not healthy to keep drinking 20 beers a week, but we are just talking weight loss.

 

i think this is pretty valid, the comparison to Starbucks - or similar places. people get these very often and are basically taking in just as many calories, if not more, plus gigantic amounts of sugar. it's the drinks (of all sorts, really) that add the empty calories to your diet

[Imported]

OP, why do you like beer? I can't imagine it's because of taste if you're "willing to drink lite beer".

 

I like beer too, but when I drink beer it's a porter with a nice meal. Ambers or porters and even some pilsners on a night out. Or a lite-beer at the beach, BBQ, work or limited choice.

 

Otherwise, I drink whiskey.